Novelis, a sustainable aluminium solutions provider, has reported a 5% increase in net sales for the second quarter (Q2) of fiscal year 2025 (FY25), reaching $4.3bn, compared to $4.1bn in the previous year's period.
This growth was driven by higher average prices of aluminium and a 1% rise in total flat-rolled product shipments to 945 kilotonnes.
Net income attributable to the company’s common shareholders fell by 18% to $128m, impacted by $61m in charges from production interruptions at the Sierre plant in Switzerland.
Excluding special items, net income was down 1% to $179m.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) fell 5% to $462m during the quarter, primarily due to higher aluminium scrap prices and a $25m impact from the Sierre flood.
For the first six months of FY25, net cash flow from operating activities stood at $374m, up from $290m in the prior year.
Adjusted free cash flow witnessed an outflow of $345m, higher than the previous year's $300m outflow, due to increased capital expenditures.
Total capital expenditures for the first six months rose 16% to $717m, driven by investments in new rolling and recycling capacity.
Novelis president and CEO Steve Fisher said: “Our global footprint allowed us to achieve record beverage packaging shipments in the quarter and also mitigate the impact to customers from the flooding-related outage at Sierre.
“We also remain committed to sustainability and our goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050. Our recently released fiscal year 2024 sustainability report highlighted the progress against this target and the 63% average recycled content rate in our products - a leading figure for the industry.”
On 30 June 2024, the company's Sierre plant was affected by severe flooding, halting operations. Novelis recognised $101m in charges related to this event.
Production has been partially restored and is expected to return to normal in Q3 FY25. The total net cash impact from the event, after insurance, is estimated at $80m, with a $30m impact on adjusted EBITDA.
Last month, Novelis announced the reduction of its carbon emissions by 27% in FY24 compared to the 2016 baseline.
